For the fiscal 2006 first quarter ended December 31, 2005, Apple posted a net quarterly profit of $565 million ($.65 per diluted share) on previously announced revenues of $5.75 billion in the 14-week December quarter, beating analyst expectations of $0.61 per share profit. The results compare to revenue of $3.49 billion and a net profit of $295 million, or $.35 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 27.2 percent, down from 28.5 percent in the year-ago quarter, while international sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple said it shipped 1,254,000 Macs and 14,043,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 20 percent growth in Macs and 207 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter.